Court verdict rekindles memories of a dark day in 1996

It was a July afternoon in 1996, and it took the marauding mobs less than a couple of hours to execute the massacre that took 21 lives. Among the dead were 11 women, six children and three infants.

With that, Bathani Tola, an unsung hamlet in central Bihar, shot to fame as one of the many sites where the fearsome Ranbir Sena had left its bloody mark. Last week, the village was once more in the news, with the Patna High Court acquitting 23 men convicted of the gruesome murders.

Bathani Tola was not the first, and would not be the last, in a series of atrocities committed through the 1980s and 1990s by the Sena, a powerful caste army of Bhumihars and Rajputs. Its victims were always landless labourers (Dalits in most cases), who, though poor and impoverished, had begun to get radicalised in the backdrop of the Naxal movement taking root in the State.

“We heard their howls of agony, but simply could not find the courage to come out,” recounts Naimuddin Ansari, one of the prime witnesses who lost six family members in the carnage. “The Sena men encircled our hovels, drew out the victims and slaughtered them,” recounts Sri Kishun Chaudhary, who lodged an FIR against 33 persons the day after the massacre.

Among those named was Brahmeshwar Singh — the infamous Mukhiya and founder of the Ranbir Sena — who is said to have overseen the Bathani killings as well as the caste massacres that followed in Laxmanpur Bathe and Shankarbigha (81 Dalits were killed in the two villages). Fourteen years after the bloodbath in Bathani, the Ara sessions court sentenced three persons to death and awarded life sentence to another 20.

The acquittal of the same men by the High Court has come as a shock to Bathani's residents. The court might have had its reasons — it cited “defective evidence” — for overturning the convictions, but the villagers are inconsolable and recollect every detail of the horror that visited them, including the fact that the Sena men killed women and children by design, not because they came in their way.

“This government [the Nitish Kumar-led NDA] has sold out to the rich and influential. It is now up to the Party [the Communist Party of India (Marxist -Leninist)] to decide the next course of action,” says Mr. Chaudhary, fatigued and bitter from years of fighting the case.

Naimuddin too looks dejected and defeated. A bangle-seller at the time of the carnage, he lost his three-month-old daughter to the aggressors. She had not even been named, when she was killed, he reminisces, adding, “Baby,” as she was called, “was tossed in the air and thrust down the blade of a sword.”

“My seven-year-old son Saddam saw it. They all saw it,” cries Naimuddin. One half of Saddam's face had been mutilated by sword lacerations when Naimuddin finally reached the spot after the Sena men had dispersed.

“As I picked him up, he [Saddam] said, ‘Abba save my life!' It was then that I realised they had cut his spinal cord.” The child died within a week at the Patna Medical College and Hospital.

A Sena sympathiser, who spoke to this correspondent, justified the “reactionary mobilisation” of the upper castes against “those Naxals.” “The land is ours. The crops belong to us. They [the labourers] did not want to work, and moreover, hampered our efforts by burning our machines and imposing economic blockades. So, they had it coming.”

Not surprisingly, there is panic in Bathani over the release of the Sena men. Their fear is compounded by the fact that their source of security, the CPI(ML), today lacks the necessary leadership at the ground level. In the 2010 Assembly elections, the CPI(ML) failed to bag even one of seven seats in Bhojpur district, which were split between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (United).

Naimuddin and others have one question for visitors: if those named in the FIR are not the killers, who killed the 21 residents of Bathani Tola?

No One Butchered 21 in Broad Daylight at Bathani Tola?

The Bihar HC verdict of 16 April, acquitting all Bathani Tola accused, repeatedly holds that the witnesses (survivors) are lying and spinning tales. At one point, the verdict observes (see below) that the witnesses claim to have run away and hidden in bushes or ditches. But the IO, according to the verdict, did not find any bushes or ditches. The verdict asks that if we accept that the assailants had come to liquidate everybody, would they not have found and killed these men too? In other words, the verdict implies: these men are alive, therefore we must assume they are lying about being eyewitnesses... Therefore the implication is that in any massacre, the only truthful witnesses can be those who are dead (who are unfortunately mute and cannot give evidence in court). The ones who are left alive in a carnage, according to the verdict, are by definition, dubious and suspicious witnesses, since if they were indeed present.

from:
Kavita Krishnan

Posted on: Apr 21, 2012 at 17:03 IST

This is preposterous and indian judiciary must take note of this. 21 persons were killed and the High court finds no culprits.Those accused were set free on the plea of defective evidence.Indian public, media and other Govt. agency,pl.wake up and go for a mass move ment to book the culprits.Again it is case like " NO BODY KILLED JASSICA LAL"

from:
sashi bhusan

Posted on: Apr 21, 2012 at 11:39 IST

The elected representatives and the police force should hang their heads in shame. The judiciary is not blameless either.

from:
K Palaka

Posted on: Apr 19, 2012 at 22:51 IST

The biased police and Govt machinery are the single biggest cause for the victims to become Naxals or criminals.If the state does not uphold the law victims have all the right to resort to violence.Whether it is practical is another matter.

from:
Nasar

Posted on: Apr 19, 2012 at 18:08 IST

To acquit the guilty citing “defective evidence”as a reason is just not right. When the lower courts had found the culprits guilty of their acts, how could a High Court say that the evidences were defective? Does that mean that the lower courts had not done a proper investigation before announcing the sentences? Or Is the High Court by acquitting the guilty trying to justify their crime? The suppression of poor and downtrodden by the upper castes has been going on since ages, and if in matters like these the judgement also turns out to be in the favour of upper castes, where will the lower caste people go?

from:
Sneha Bhattacharjee

Posted on: Apr 19, 2012 at 17:30 IST

I read it somewhere: The land belongs to no one and the fruit belongs to all.

Those who kill think that they are entitled to do so.

Those who survive, have no other option but to try to live on.

The seeds of such societal violence practiced by the dominating, is embedded in our past, from which we need to break free urgently to create a new India.

from:
Sanjay Tirdiya

Posted on: Apr 19, 2012 at 13:04 IST

In the absence of justice any system is a mockery. Someone killed these people and not even 1 been held accountable, doesn't it show our intention to punish the law breakers. But this won't make any story in the main stream media as this does not sell. No questions asked, it could not be proved in the court of law but this does not change the fact that people died. Years and years are gone but justice is not delivered. With time and age i have also lost hope for a better society which treats everyone equal, applauds the the good and punishes the bad. I hope that i relearn the act of hoping again for a better mankind.

from:
Rohin Angral

Posted on: Apr 19, 2012 at 11:59 IST

The verdict of the court is shocking for anyone concerned about human rights in India. the dalits and tribals are always at the mercy of the so called upper castes. The verdict will have many and long term impacts. first, the ranbir sena and the like will have renewed confidence as they know they can get away with even the bloodiest massacre. second, the dalits and tribals will side with the naxals as they will have no faith in mainstream political parties, administration and the democratic machinery. third, marginalised people will know that justice will be delivered when one can afford the fees for a good lawyer.

from:
subroto

Posted on: Apr 19, 2012 at 11:31 IST

In feudal Bihar, Bathani tola like massacres is tip on the ice berg! In Bihar everyday atrocities on poor and dalits are rising-one should go in rural Bihar and just look the plight of poor and dalits, who are victims of atrocioty in the hands of upper caste men as well as neo-rich class of backwards like Kurmi. Poor and dalits , who had been given voices about ten years back by Laloo and Rabari regime minus all the ills by them, have been deprived their voices during NDA rule let by Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar always gives away before its alliance partner-Bharatiya Janata Party and in the process forgot to implement land reform measures on the pressure of BJP and land-owing classes for consolidating vote banks. Nitish is helpless and like any other politicians ruling the Bihar for luxary and to serve the interest of vested interests.my blog www.kksingh1.blogspot.com

from:
krishn kumar singh

Posted on: Apr 19, 2012 at 11:13 IST

this is preposterous. I am surprised by the action of court. How can they cite lack of evidence as the reason to acquit them?? what is Bihar government doing?? Will the people in Bathani Tola never get the justice!!!!

from:
nimisha

Posted on: Apr 19, 2012 at 10:06 IST

what to say... who to blame... who is responsible ??? how to fix responsibility ??? how to ensure justice?? what about rule of law?? what about jhola chhaap bengali marxist/maoist/leninist so-called intellectuals who incited , provoked and pitted poor(landless dalits) ,who were not prepared physically and mentally to fight against the rich(land owning castes- (they were not from upper caste only, they included castes like kurmis and ahirs)-- these naxalites (read bengalis) first ruined their home then they started extra-parliamentary methods based on the premise that revolution is possible only out of the barrel of the gun -- they shifted their base to bihar and orchestrated a lot of pre-meditated and well-planned pogrom of upper castes and this gave rise to private militias like sena who started to kill poor as well in the hunt of PWG and naxalite commanders... this was all facilitated by none other than the king of the jungle lalu yadav , whose police personnel were busy helping naxalites and butchering forward castes. so a vicious cycle of attack and counter attack is going on for a decade although with a change that nowadays neither naxals nor sena attack the whole community but individuals are being still targeted ... there was complete breakdown of law and order in central and south bihar-- it is a bitter history with which every bihari has to live... but still we can hope justice would be delivered to the innocents and for those who were at the receiving end of brutality and vicious atrocity, i could just pray...

from:
naveen singh

Posted on: Apr 19, 2012 at 08:58 IST

Hopefully the supreme court will take cognizance of this case now that the Bihar govt has decided to approach it to overturn the high court verdict. It is unforgiveable that mass murderers are getting away on 'technicalities'. That just goes to show the lackadaisical manner with which the prosecution pursued the case.
Thanks to the hindu for continuing to bring these stories to light.

This is unbelievably outrageous. When the Ara sessions court had convicted these murderers, I was happy that the law and order system had finally delivered justice to the poor and underprivileged families of the victims. The acquittal by the High-court came as a gruesome shocker to me. The law and order system of the country is failing to do justice to those ostracized by most of us on basis of caste. This is one of the most shocking judgments I’ve ever come across, that has been handed by the High-Court of our country. The rich and powerful have again found a way to arm-twist the system and turn the judgment in their favor.